Reader roundup: Bold and bright projects

01 Apr 2026

This month we have a wonderful roundup of projects from our readers! From bold bathrooms to brilliant blooms and bright desks, here’s your inspiration to get started on those creative projects of your own!

Laura’s bathroom is one of many colours, 100 in fact! Using Resene testpots she has created a one-of-a-kind space. “The Resene colour charts were the inspiration, and we chose our own colours so that we could get a wide range of colours over the one wall,” says Laura. “We absolutely love it! Despite it being a bit of a labour of love to do, it was totally worth it!” This project proves that you really can do anything with colour and make your home yours!

Jo Parkin runs Stems with Benefits, a simple local flower initiative which uses upcycled tin cans hand-painted in Resene colours to match the seasonal blooms within. The flowers are grown in bee-friendly gardens, mostly her own, and topped up with stems from other small local growers and independent flower farmers.

For every can of blooms sold, a can of food is donated to the Christchurch City Mission. Stems with Benefits cans of blooms are sold as a weekly pop-up stand in neighbourhood spaces like markets, cafés and community spaces such as Vic’s Café and Flow Yoga Studios, as well as online for larger, delivered cans of blooms, which in turn donate more cans of food.

The project is part of The Stems Project, which also includes Stems of Wonder, a nationwide seed subscription sharing unusual and surprising plants grown from seed. You can also keep up to date with where to find these beautiful blooms on Instagram: @stems_with_benefits.

Lauren gave the desks in her children’s rooms a makeover. Her son’s bedroom (top) now features a desk in a grey blue, Resene Escapade, and her daughter’s desk (below) features the beautiful apricot pink of Awaken.

Remember we love to see your finished projects, so please email us some photos and the Resene colours and/or Resene wallpapers you’ve used to [email protected].

Published: 01 Apr 2026